Where the Magic Happens

Ok so it's not all magic.  Some of my culinary experiments, well, really are experiments and look like they have come straight from a lab and not my little kitchen.  Other times, I completely surprise myself (like with my attempt at plum chutney) and spend the rest of the day in awe of what I've created.

It's taken some time to get used to my little kitchen.  And by England's standards, it's actually not that small.  We saw some little cupboards disguised as kitchens when we were house hunting four years ago.  You could stand in the centre and reach absolutely everything you needed without actually moving your feet.  Small!  At least there's room for shuffling in mine.

When we were looking for a house we had a house hunting checklist.  We both wanted a second bedroom (or two) for guests and as office space and some outdoor space (which I quickly learned was going to be tough to find).  Also, W needed a garage or room to build one and I wanted a dining room separate to the kitchen (so when entertaining guests they wouldn't see the giant disaster secret preparations happening in the kitchen).  So when after over 30 viewings I brought home the details of our current house (because it had a ginormous bath-which turns out isn't that ginormous in person and a big back garden-not just a yard, a whole garden) we were sold!  There is some work to be done (and some of it has been done) but this little 2 bed terraced house is perfect for us.

This is our little kitchen.  And I use the word "our" very loosely here- usually, the only other thing cooked in here by anyone else in this house is toast!  And stuff on toast!  Which is funny since when we moved in W insisted on telling me where to put things away as I unpacked.  I don't tell him where to put his hammer, so don't tell me where to put my spatula!  Anyway, it's a galley kitchen, which means it is long and narrow.  And we can't wait to renovate the it, however that project is dependant on a variety of other projects.  The garage needs to be built before we can empty the utility room of all the tools and then extend the kitchen straight through.  We weren't going to do anything to the kitchen to upgrade it since we'd be ripping it out at some point and starting again which we had planned to do a few years after move in day though with our wedding coming up next summer we decided to put it off a little while longer.  But I longed for something brighter, with a cleaner look and I didn't know if I could wait a year, or two!  So when Easter gave us four days off I thought a quick paint job would do just the trick.  Quick?!  Let's just say, 6 months on and it's still a work in progress (the drilling just stopped for the night - no lie!)

So as it was sunny out, I took all the cupboard doors off and set them up outside on some trestle tables.  I sanded them first and then painted them in antique white.  I gave the backs of the doors a couple of coats and let them dry overnight and then painted the fronts the following day.  That way, when they were turned over in the painting process if any marks got on them they wouldn't be very noticeable.  And for the most part, the weather was fabulous.  The sun was out for nearly the whole the long weekend.  I brought the doors in at night and spread them out on the dining table and counter tops.  But on the final day of painting, well, it did what it always does in England - it rained!  And it came so quickly we had to rush to get everything into the house.  It was chaos.  Doors lying on every surface!  I wish I had taken a photo of it but I was a bit overwhelmed with wall to wall doors and forgot!

Even George tried to get in on the action!!

We kept the counter tops as they are and the hardware on the doors.  I painted the walls in moss green and the trim in antique white.  Here is what it looks like at the moment, just ignore the dishes piled up by the sink!

We are working on the utility room at the moment.  I've painted it green to match the rest of the kitchen and W is building some shelves.  And once complete there will no longer be tools hanging on the wall.  I'm pretty sure there's an ax on the wall in that first picture!

So for now this is where I make science experiments culinary magic.

What's your kitchen like?  Big or small?  Do you have plans to change it, or have you already done so?  Anyone have a kitchen like mine?    

Easy Peasy!

I love a deal.  Gimmie something on sale and I gotta have it!  I mean, you're saving right?  So when I have time to stroll through the supermarket I love to scour the shelves for reduced items.  About 2 weeks ago I came across this:

Pork shank for £2.10.  Not too bad.  But lo and behold, it was reduced to this :

49p!  Bargain!  I took this baby home and stuck it in the freezer ready to be used another day.  Well, Wednesday was that day.  The weather has been cold and rainy (I know, shocker right?!) and I thought pea and ham soup was just the thing we needed.

I defrosted the ham overnight in the fridge and at the same time soaked 2 boxes of marrowfat peas.  It was cheaper for these at 33p a box, than a big bag of them.  Although yesterday while I was out I found them for 29p a box.  Dang!

After everything was soaked and defrosted I placed the peas in my slow cooker, sweat a large onion and added that to pot, gave the ham a quick soak and a rinse (normally the ham should be soaked for a few hours or overnight but I forgot this step and luckily the soup didn't come out very salty) and covered everything with water.  I added some pepper but no salt as the ham would be salty enough.  I put the cooker on high for about 4 hours but this could be done on low either overnight or during the day while you're at work or something.

Not so pretty to look at but really tasty!

At about the four hour mark I took the ham out and let the peas continue to cook.  I took off as much of the ham as I could, chopped the meat into chunks and before returning it all the pot I gave the peas a bit of a  liquidising (if you're using a blender allow the soup to cool, blend, and then return the meat).  I then turned it off and let it cool overnight.  It was still slightly warm by morning.  As it had settled there was liquid and fat along the top so I skimmed that off, gave it a stir and tasted my creation.  Surprisingly it needed salt!  I added a little, gave it another taste and perfecto.  So last night we had pea and ham soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner.  Delicious!  And the best part - so cheap!  In total with the onion (I'm not counting salt and pepper here) the soup cost about £1.35 and there were at least 6 servings. That's 22p a serving!  Bargoon!  

Soup for lunch, me thinks!

Summer is still here!

So remember when I said summer was done, finished, kaput?!  Well, I was wrong.  Cue the rain the storm...

Wait for it, wait for it...

Hmm...nope nothing.  It's still warm out there.  Yesterday was glorious sunshine and actually hot.  Like tank top and cropped pants hot (not shorts hot - I don't think it's ever been shorts hot here-though some in the neighbourhood might disagree).

 This is George enjoying the summer sun.  She spent most of yesterday lying on her side on the patio catching the rays but anytime I tried to take a picture she'd get up and do this:

Not exactly a fan of the paparrazzi!

Again today, the weather has been lovely.  Not as hot as yesterday but what I would call neutral, so there's no difference between inside and out.  It would have been the perfect day to sit outside with a magazine and a few bevvies but common sense (I do have a little of it) told me that if your man is out at work all day he best not come home to find you've been boozing all afternoon.  So instead I cleaned the bathroom.  Not exactly the Lady of Leisure lifestyle I'm going for here but I have to do my bit.

Though not before making myself a summer salad.

This is an easy one.  Salmon goes in the oven with a little olive oil on both sides, pepper (if you like) and some sweet chilli sauce.  Put it in the oven at 200°C/400°F for about 20 minutes.  While it's cooking make your salad - I've been enjoying tomatoes while they're still red!  Pop the salmon on top of your salad and add more sweet chilli if you like.  I make this with chicken breasts (fresh or frozen) or just a can of tuna and some nice dressing.

Would have gone down nicely with a bottle glass of white.

It's probably going to chuck it down this weekend so I'm enjoying the warmth with the back door open and finally that glass of wine (red though).  Maybe a bowl of ice cream?

Anyone else still have nice weather?

Rack em up!

It's not a meal if it ain't got meat!  Or so I've heard...over and over again!  Being surrounded by carnivores (my fiance, my brother and a little dog who's under your feet the minute the bacon hits the pan) means a higher intake of protein around here.  Last year, when I was back in Canada for the summer, my brother made me dinner.  He said he was making chicken fingers - and he wasn't lying.  When it came time to eat, it was in fact, an entire plate of chicken fingers.  Not a veg in sight, not even a potato!  They were delicious, but I swear I could feel my kidneys going into overdrive.

So when he offered to make dinner earlier in the summer, I knew what to expect.  Meat, with a side of meat.  Ribs were on special and I had thought about tackling them myself but knowing Marc had made them before I knew best not to mess with a good thing.   He made it look so easy.  And they were the most amazing ribs I'd ever had.  I knew I should just give it a go sometime.

This past weekend was the last long weekend of the summer (if you can call it summer!)  and although it rained the entire time and I had pretty much declared summer over, I thought ribs would be a last ditch effort at getting a little taste of summer and an easy bbq cheat (since we lack the essential piece of equipment a bbq doth make).  Back when Marc had made ribs, he had noticed a distinct lack of barbeque sauce in the condiment aisle, necessary for the sauciest of ribs.  We have a small supermarket around the corner from our house and I'm sure size is responsible for the slim pickings but I found something new this time around:

In honour of our recent family trip to Ireland (fondly referred to as Fam Jam 2011) where copius amounts of Guinness were consumed (Coors Light for the mumster - I know, we couldn't believe it either) I decided to use this to saucify my ribs.  The recipe is easy and can be adjusted for as many or as little people you are cooking for.

Kindly shared by my brother, it goes a little like this:

Saucy Fall off the Bone Ribs
2-4 trimmed rack of ribs (or as many as you need)
2 oranges sliced (or enough to cover the bottom of your pan)
water
1-2 shots of whiskey (optional)
barbeque sauce 

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F.  Lay the sliced oranges at the bottom of your pan.  Place the ribs on top of the orange slices and don't worry if they overlap slightly.  Add water (and whiskey if using) to just cover the orange slices.  Cover the pan with foil and bake for 3 hours or so.  Remove from the oven and glaze both sides with barbeque sauce.

Now here is where I would put them on the bbq, or at best under the grill in the oven.  Well you already know that we don't have a bbq and well, our grill is broken and has been, ahem, since we moved in, 4 years ago.  So I popped them back in the oven for a bit and just hoped for the best.  I should have kept a close eye on them and glazed them a few more times because those babies crisped right up and got a little burnt on the edges.  Marc had forgotten to tell me to keep on glazing.  Whoopsy!  So whether you are finishing them off on the bbq, under the grill or baking in the oven, keep on glazin' on.

I served them with roasted potatoes and sweet corn but decided while eating,  that the ribs would be best served with things you can eat with you hands (now I see why wings are served with crudités).  Picking up a sticky fork is just not nice.

And if you happen to have some crispy edges, just choose the best rack for yourself,  like I did.  The men will just be happy to be eating meat!